Indicator



Oct. 12, 1937. W. F. REISIGER INDICATOR Filed May 9. 19:56

INVENTOR. 5

AT ORNEYS Patented 0a. 12, 193? assassismear creme INDICATOR William Reisiger, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to The Hunter Illuminated Car Sign Co. Inc., Flushing, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 9, 1936, Serial No. 78,749

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel and improved form of indicator, the novel features of which will be best understood from the following description and the annexed drawing, in which I have shown a selected embodiment of the invention and in which: P

I Fig;- 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the use oft-he indicator in a train;

' Fig. as a view' on an enlarged scale of one of the indicators, this view being taken from the right o-f Fig. 3;' v

Fig. 3 is a. section onthe line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a View on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is afragmentary end View of the operating means.

'Forthe purpose of illustration, I shall assume that-the indicator is used on a vehicle, such as a subway car," and in Fig. l, I have shown a train of threesubway cars having boxes I forming parts of the indicators. In the other figures I have shown detailsfof a, single indicator, and since they are duplicates, a detailed description of one will 'sufiibejfor'all. j Each box-I is adapted to be placed in a wall of a car and is provided with oppositely disposed windows I and 3, one of which may open to the 'in'sideof the car and. the other to the outside. Between these windows I place a barrel which may have two heads-4 and 5 connected by a plurality of rods 6 to form an open frame. The headsmay beprovided with shafts I and 8 so that the barrel may be'rotated, and this rotation may be achieved by means of a motor 9 secured toone of the shafts,'here shown as the shaft 8. 1' f Referring momentarily to Fig. 1, it will be seen that each-one of" the indicators is provided with a motor and that these motors are connected in parallel t jline conductors In in which is a switch lld'ispb'sed at "(ni'efnd of the train so that the motors may all be operated together from that supports is such that a. portion of the web is presented substantially flat at one of the windows, and diametrically opposite to that portion another web portion is presented to the other winrotated so that the Q. P. designation at the window 3 is rolled upon the spindle I4, the two B. G. designations'will appear at the windows 2 and 3. Continued'winding would result in the 180' designations appearingand then the F. A. designations. shown a portion 52' of the web which is blank, and after each four designations on the web a blank space will be provided to correspond with I the idle space between the two spindles l3 and M. The frequency of these blank spaces will obviously depend upon the number of supports 6, when th spindles l3 and Hi are used. 7

If desired, the two spindles E3 and I4 may be I omitted and an endless web may be stretched around the drum having, in the illustrated embodiment, five pairs of designations, but the use of the spindles with the web wound thereon provides more flexibility, in that a larger number of designations may be employed.

Ordinarily, the indicator will be used for terminal designations andwill be used on one car for an extended time on one route, so that the terminals need not be changed except at the end of the route. That is to say, all that will be necessary, for example, for an indicator used on a car running between Bowling Green and 180th Street is to make the change from the B. G.

esi'gnations to the 180 designations.

If the car is to be used on another line with differently named terminals, then all that is necessary is to wind up one spindle 13 or M and unwind the other until the parts of the web carrying the desired designations are so placed on the Queens Plaza,

Opposite the spindles I3 and I4 is barrel frame as to be seen at the windows 2 and 3. I

For the purpose of thus rotating the spindles I3 and I4, ahand-operated crank l5 may be used,

and this may be secured to a'pinion l6 meshing h spindles; If the spindles l3 and M were to be 5 wound and unwound often enough, an electric motor could be used in place of the crank, but ordinarily this mechanism is used so seldom that a hand crank will serve the purpose.

In order to illuminate the designations which are presented to the windows 2 and 3, I illuminate the interior of the barrel frame as by means of a lamp 19 mounted within a reflecting cover 20 at one end of the box I. I find that by selecting a lamp of the proper candle power, and by using a reflector of proper characteristics, the light passing through the adjacent head 4 of the barrel frame may sufficiently illuminate the interior of the web so as to make the designations plainly visible at the windows 2 and 3. The heads are preferably made open, as plainly shown in Fig. 4, and I have found that the lighting arrangement indicated will operate successfully without the formation of shadows or other undesirable features.

For convenience of access to the interior thereof, the 'box I may be made in sections hinged together as at 2|. The supports 6 are shown as in the form of rods, although, if desired, they may be in the form of rollers and will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in a specific form, it is to be understood that various changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An indicator comprising two oppositely disposed windows, a barrel rotatably mounted between said windows with its axis substantially parallel thereto, said barrel comprising two rotatable spindles parallel to said axis, a web having its ends secured to said two rotatable spindles and stretched around the barrel, whereby the web will move with the barrel as it rotates to present different portions thereof at said windows, the portions presented at any one time at said windows having the same designations; and means to rotate said barrel.

2. An indicator comprising two oppositely disposed windows, a barrel rotatably mounted be.- tween said windows with its axis substantially parallel thereto, a web surrounding said barrel and rotatable therewith, whereby as the barrel rotates, portions of said web will be presented at said windows, the portions presented at any one time carrying the same designations, means for rotating said barrel to bring different designations before the windows, and means to move the web around the barrel.

3. An indicator comprising two oppositely disposed windows, a barrel rotatably mounted between said windows with itsaxis substantially parallel thereto, a web surrounding said barrel and rotatable therewith, whereby as the barrel rotates, portions of said web will be presented at said windows, the portions presented at any one time carrying the same designations, means for rotating said barrel to bring different designations before the windows, portions of said web being transparent, whereby light may pass from the inside of the barrel through the web to illuminate the designations thereon, means to illuminate the web from the inside of the barrel, and means to move the web around the barrel.

4. An indicator comprising two oppositely disposed windows, a barrel rotatably mounted between said windows with its axis substantially parallel thereto, said barrel comprising two rotatable spindles parallel to said axis, a web having its ends secured to said two rotatable spindles and stretched around the barrel, whereby the web will move with the barrel as it rotates to present different portions thereof at said windows, the portions presented at any one time at said windows having the same designations, means to rotate said barrel, and means for rotating said spindles in unison to wind the web upon one spindle and to unwind it from the other.

5. An indicator comprising a frame in the form of a barrel, means supporting said frame for rotation about its'axis, said frame comprising a lurality of supports and two rotatable spindles, all extending parallel to said axis and substantially equally spaced about said axis and equally spaced therefrom, a web extending around said supports and secured at its ends to said rotating spindles, whereby upon rotation of said spindles the web may move around said supports, means for rotating said spindles, and means for rotating said frame about its axis.

6. An indicator comprising a frame in the form of a. barrel, said barrel having two opposite heads connected by supports substantially equally spaced about the axis of the barrel and equally spaced therefrom, a web stretched around said supports, a window disposed adjacent said supports, means for rotating said barrel about its axis to bring different portions of said web before said window, and means to move the web around the barrel.

'7. An indicator comprising a frame in the form of a barrel, said barrel having two opposite heads connected by supports substantially equally spaced about the axis of the barrel and equally spaced therefrom, a web stretched around said supports, a box within which said barrel is mounted for rotation about its axis, said box having windows disposed on opposite sides of said barrel, means for rotating the barrel within the box to bring different portions of said web before said windows, and means to move the web around the barrel.

WILLIAM F. REISIGER. 

